


The Lucky One

by dragons_and_angels



Series: Eddie Diaz Week [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Car Accidents, Day 2, Eddie Diaz Week 2021, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29827707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/pseuds/dragons_and_angels
Summary: Eddie couldn't imagine what it would be like without Buck in his life. Even Christopher knew to call him when they needed help.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Eddie Diaz Week [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190606
Comments: 8
Kudos: 355





	The Lucky One

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt - 'this is nice'/soft

"Daddy, can I have a hug?" Christopher asked when Eddie went to pick him up from his abuela's one day. Eddie gladly complied and didn't question the sudden need for a hug. He didn't want to make Christopher think asking for a hug was strange or something he shouldn't do, especially from his father. Eddie's abuela gave him a smile and pat him on the cheek when he straightened up. He leaned into the touch, enjoying the easy affection he got from his abuela. His parents had pretty much stopped when he had become an adult and they had started having all their disagreements about how to raise Christopher. 

"Thank you, Abuela." He gave her a kiss on the cheek in return and let Christopher say his own goodbye and thank you before taking them both back to the car. They had half an hour to get home before rush hour traffic hit so he didn't do the usual catch up with his grandmother, which she thankfully seemed to understand. "How was school today, Christopher?"

"It was great, Dad! We're doing the element table and learning about stars in physics, plus we get to pick a geography place and I chose the supervolcano. Can Buck help me when he comes over tonight? Jenny lent me her pencil in Math today and she's really nice. Can she come over for dinner sometime? Ms. Rivera got a new puppy and she showed us all pictures. Can we get a dog? Not a big one, just a little one like Paisley."

Eddie listened to everything Christopher was saying, careful not to nod in agreement. The last time he had done that, Christopher had asked if they could get a hamster and Eddie had had to do some fast talking to put that off for a little while.

"Buck said we could make pizzas tonight instead of ordering them. Ms. Brophy says if you make it yourself it's better for you and Buck said making pizzas is really fun. I know Buck isn't coming over until seven but can you call him and ask him to come over earlier? Then he can help me with researching the volcano!"

"I'll ask," Eddie said as he pulled up to the traffic lights. "But Buck may be bu-- " Something slammed into the back of the car, throwing Eddie forward. There was another impact that jolted the car sideways and threw Eddie against the side door. For some people, it took some time for the shock of something happening to pass but Eddie had always been good at moving forward. He took a breath, absorbing what had happened, and then snapped into action. "Christopher." He turned back to see his son staring back at him with wide eyes.

"Daddy, what happened?" Christopher seemed scared but unhappy. His hands gripped his seatbelt tightly but he was sitting normally.

"Someone went into the back of us," Eddie said. "Christopher, are you hurt at all?" Christopher shook his head and a tight knot of tension in Eddie's chest loosened a little. He reached back and Christopher took hold of his hand. Eddie gave it a quick squeeze. "Hey, buddy. I need you to stay here while I go and see if anyone else needs help." Eddie could hear angry voices outside his window so it sounded like no one was seriously injured.

"Okay, Daddy." After a moment's thought, Eddie passed his phone back to Christopher. It would keep him distracted and if Eddie needed to call for the emergency services after assessing everyone, he knew where it was.

He got out of the car and shut the door behind him. Four other cars were skewed over the intersection, nearly all of them showing superficial damage. Eddie glanced at his own car and winced. He hoped it was just body work that was needed so he wouldn't be without a car for long but the possible expense was not something he was looking forward to. 

There were a group of people arguing and more people standing on the outskirts, some of them with phones out. Eddie didn't understand the need to photograph car crashes or accidents but at least no one was being resuscitated this time. 

"Is anyone hurt?" Eddie asked, his voice cutting across the arguing. "I'm an off-duty firefighter and I need to know if anyone is hurt."

"Well, firefighter, why don't you start worrying about this asshole who hit my car?" The younger woman rounded on the older man. He crossed his arms and glared at her. "You should be arrested." 

"You stopped dead," the man retorted, his voice rising. 

"The reason why you went into the back of me was because you were tailgating!" The woman crossed her arms and glared at him. Eddie decided to leave them to it and went to check on the other drivers. It looked like a car had gone into the car behind Eddie, which sent him forward into the path of oncoming traffic. One car had hit his truck and then someone had to swerve to avoid them, leading them to hitting the sidewalk at an angle. 

"You guys okay?" Eddie asked as he checked out the other passengers. Nearly everyone seemed unharmed and one person said they had already called 9-1-1 so police should be there soon to direct traffic. The sound of arguing increased and Eddie turned back to see what appeared to be the woman's boyfriend had joined the argument. 

"I think they're sending an ambulance as well," one of the drivers said quietly. Eddie looked at the man's hands clenching into fists and sighed. 

"Good thing too, I think we're going to need it." Eddie strode back over just as the first man punched the boyfriend and the boyfriend instantly retaliated, egged on by the first woman. Eddie swore under his breath, hoping no one here understood Spanish and didn't know what he had just called the aggressive civilians. 

Eddie took the opportunity to get in between the two men and shove them apart, taking advantage of their surprise. He had figured out that it was the faster way to separate two people fighting and it had the added benefit of not giving cops the wrong idea that Eddie was involved in the fight. It gave people a chance to reconsider what they were doing and normally they were content with yelling rather than continuing their fight. 

Not today though. The boyfriend got up and immediately made for the other guy again, blind fury making his face red. 

"Let it go, man," Eddie said. "The police are on the way, they'll sort it out." The man continued to approach. "Let. It. Go." Eddie's tone got the man to hesitate but then his girlfriend shrieked something abusive and he continued. Eddie dodged the first two punches and blocked the next. "Calm down." 

"Daddy." The voice had him turning instinctively and the next blow knocked him sideways. He kept his feet and straightened up. His son had the window down and was staring at him in scared concern. 

"Stay in the car, Christopher," he yelled, feeling stirrings of panic that he hadn't felt even when he got between two furious men. Christopher nodded and ducked back into the car and Eddie turned his attention back to the two men who had started fighting again. "For fuck's sake," he muttered. He really wished he had met these guys in the ring, then he could have let them known just how angry he was. One guy was on the floor now and the boyfriend was still punching. Eddie pulled him up and away, sending him to the floor. "Stay down!"

"How dare you treat my boyfriend this way?" The girlfriend flew at Eddie. She didn't punch like her boyfriend, but her nails were sharp and her grip vicious. 

"Stop." Eddie grabbed the woman's wrists to try and get her off him. Finally some of the onlookers came to help and it took two people to drag her off him. "Thank you." The boyfriend had stopped going after the other man, now yelling abuse at the two people restraining his girlfriend. Eddie knelt down by the man on the ground. "Sir, where did he hit you?" 

"My head." The man seemed far less angry now, either shocked at the escalation or stunned by the blows. Eddie checked him out as fast as possible, and kept glancing at Christopher. The police and ambulance turned up, paramedics heading over to the cluster of people. It turned into more of a mess than it already was, especially since the boyfriend and girlfriend were still being violent. 

"We've got it from here," the paramedic said after Eddie gave his handover. Eddie backed up and saw one of the police officers approaching him. He ignored him, going over to his car. 

"You okay, Christopher?" Eddie asked as he opened the door. 

"I'm fine," Christopher said. "Are you okay, Dad? I saw that man punch you!" 

"Sir, I have to talk to you," the police officer said. 

"Eddie!" Buck's voice had Eddie jerking his head up. 

"I called Buck, Dad," Christopher said just as Buck rounded the corner of the car, followed by a pissed off looking police officer. 

"Sir," Eddie's police officer said, his voice harsh. Eddie grit his teeth but knew the worst thing he could do was lose his temper. Punching a man over a parking spot was a lot different to punching a police officer. 

"Let me make sure my son is safe first," he said firmly. Buck put a hand on his shoulder and Eddie felt something inside him relax. He turned to his friend. "Can you take Christopher while I get this sorted out?" The irritated police officer that had followed Buck talked to the one who had followed Eddie and disappeared back to crowd control. 

"Of course," Buck said. His eyes flickered down to Eddie's jaw. "What happened to your face?" 

"The man punched Dad when he tried to stop them fighting," Christopher said. "I got scared and you needed help so I called Buck." Eddie couldn't really disagree with any of that. He had known Christopher was safe but Eddie hadn't been safe, not to mention Christopher knew Buck would help Eddie no matter what. He could say something about not interrupting Buck in whatever he was doing but considering Buck would drop everything if Christopher wanted an ice cream, he was certain Christopher being scared wouldn't even register as an interruption.

"Thanks for coming," Eddie said quietly. "Can you take him home? I need to sort things out here."

"Of course," Buck said. He let go of Eddie's shoulder to reach out for Christopher. The boy was getting a little big to be carried but after the crash and the fight, he looked like he needed some comfort. Eddie knew full well that no one did better hugs than Buck. Buck grabbed Christopher's crutches and bag and after Eddie gave his son one last farewell kiss (and had to curb the instinctive urge to do the same to Buck), they headed away from the accident.

Then Eddie turned to the police officer, who looked a little embarrassed now.

"Right," Eddie said. He leaned against the truck and tried not to look as exhausted as he felt. "What did you want to know?"

**

It was hours before Eddie got home. After answering the police officer's questions, he had to deal with his truck, exchange insurance details with the other drivers and assure the paramedics that he didn't need medical help. He was bruised and banged up but nothing worse. The police officer ended up dropping him at his home after everything so Eddie was able to stumble in without too much fuss. His home was quiet, the lights turned down low in the growing dusk and the faint buzz of the television barely heard.

"Eddie, hey." Buck was on the couch with a softly snoring Christopher. His face was drawn with worry but his voice remained quiet in deference to Christopher. He turned the television off and got up slowly, careful not to disturb Christopher. "Are you okay?"

He didn't even realise he was doing it. One moment he was staring at Buck and remembering just how good it felt to have someone he could trust to watch Christopher and care about him at the same time, the next he was stepping forward and pulling Buck into a hug. Buck didn't even let him take a moment to freeze in shock, he immediately returned the hug and Eddie buried his face into Buck's shoulder. His T-shirt was soft and smelled like the laundry detergent Eddie used, as Buck had bought the same one for both of them the last time he had gone grocery shopping for Eddie.

"Thank you," Eddie said, even though it didn't encompass the enormity of everything he felt.

"I mean it, Eddie. I would do anything for you and Christopher." Buck didn't pull back from the hug, just turned a little so his nose was brushing against the side of Eddie's head. "You don't need to thank me for doing it."

Eddie pulled back so he could see Buck's face but didn't let go of his waist. He let his other hand settle against Buck's nape, knowing full well that this was not a platonic, best friends hug anymore and not caring. "Buck, I just wanted you to know that I don't ever take it for granted. You've made mine and Christopher's lives so much better by being here and just being you and I never want to take advantage of that. We are so lucky to have you and that's what I mean when I say thank you."

Buck's eyes shined with tears and he ducked his head, just as unused to compliments as he had been when they had stepped out of that ambulance together. He looked so vulnerable and exposed that Eddie just wanted to pull him in closer and promise to protect him forever. Never mind that Buck wouldn't like to be protected as if he were a princess in a tower, the impulse remained. The thought of anyone hurting him, of leaving him voluntarily, made Eddie want to start punching things. Buck was like the dogs he was always compared to, exposing his soft underside and trusting you not to hurt him.

"Eddie," Buck said, apparently overcome. He hopefully knew better than to try and wave it off or deny it, Eddie wouldn't allow anyone to talk Buck down and that included Buck himself.

"Buck," he echoed. Buck's fingers came up to rest against his jaw, making Eddie smile. "This is nice." He wasn't sure whether he meant the hug, the touch or the fact that Buck was here with him, but Buck seemed to understand all the same. He smiled, that genuinely happy smile Eddie loved so much to see.

Christopher started to stir on the couch. Buck went to move away from Eddie but was prevented by Eddie tightening the arm around his waist. He didn't know what he wanted to tell Christopher, but he didn't want to feel like this was some dirty little secret.

"Stay here tonight?" he asked Buck. He didn't mean for anything to happen, he liked this slow pace, but he really didn't want Buck to go back to his apartment.

"Yeah, sure." Buck's eyes glowed and Eddie was helpless to resist, brushing his lips against Buck's cheek in what was more of a touch than a kiss, before going to help Christopher to bed. Buck would be there when he got back.


End file.
